Gary Lineker launched a scathing attack on England captain Harry Kane after his ‘lethargic’ display in the Euro 2024 draw against Denmark.
Kane opened the scoring for England in their second Group C match on Thursday night but was replaced after 70 minutes after a frustrating night in Frankfurt.
The Bayern Munich striker was accused of persistently dropping too deep as the Three Lions struggled to create anything of note against the Danes. While he was certainly wasn’t the only England star to underperform on the night, he was targeted with perhaps the most brutal criticism.
Lineker, one of Kane’s predecessor in leading England’s attack, gave his frank opinion on the striker’s performance following the final whistle, believing England boss Gareth Southgate needs to have a serious discussion over
‘In all honestly, I think Harry Kane needs to do a lot better,’ Lineker said on BBC One’s coverage of the game.
‘I think his movement was minimal, he didn’t look to go in behind but even when he did look to come in short, he’s just drifted short very lethargically, plodding short. And that’s not going to help.
‘When you’re a striker you have two jobs, one is scoring goals which he is brilliant at. But I think he needs his manager to say ‘I need more from you Harry’.
‘I would have expected that if I had that kind of performance. He’s up against three at the back so he has got to stretch that team. When you get the ball coming short, you don’t have to go 20 yards short. He’s not creating space for himself.
‘He’s never really been a player that spins in behind but it’s the same thing. If someone is in midfield and you want it in behind you go that way first, then you go behind. That’s how you stretch the team.
‘If you have someone who can stretch the team, it creates more space for the midfielders. In his defence, when that happened today there wasn’t midfielders pushing on. So it’s a whole team thing.’
Lineker continued: ‘I think he does get frustrated and when he does that he ambles back and ambles back.
‘He wants to play his part defensively. But if you are playing fairly deep anyway and your striker comes deep, it exacerbates the issue. Then you have no target to hit. He has got to stay high up.’
England missed the chance to qualify for the knockout stages of Euro 2024 as group winners tonight but can still do that with a win over Slovenia next Tuesday.